What is there not to like about a small sect of people known only as immortals that have lived among us since the dawn of time living only to hunt each other to decapitate their adversary and gain their power and abilities? It is a very great premise to a story about men and women who live by the sword through the ages of man and cannot die.
Well they did a decent job with it in one movie and screwed it up the rest of the attempts. There should have been only one.
One could argue that the problem with the modern story, across all mediums, is that the stories conclude with a satisfying tie up of the loose ends with a bit of mystery but leave the ending open to a sequel. The continuing story often does not live up to the original and we are left with the classic to hold dear to our hearts, but it is now bitter sweet. There are many perspectives to this and is always left up to interpretation. Sequels and series can be great while others can continue to flop and ruin whatever good name the title borrowed from.
Highlander (as a franchise) has a much bigger problem. The first movie is a modern classic which utilizes the pitch noted above to a near perfect tee. It is the story of an immortal Scotsman who is immortal and lives for five hundred years watching his loved ones die and battling other immortals for a chance to obtain the prize at the gathering, a final show down of the few immortals remaining. Have “Queen” do your entire soundtrack and you got a great movie. (Flash Gordon is still up for debate).
Now the original Highlander ended with all loose ends covered and the fate of the hero is grand as Conner MacLeod does come out as “The One” after the gathering and gives a brief explanation of the prize of having obtained the knowledge of the world, the abilities of those before him, and the gift of being able to grow old and die (he became mortal). It left a bit of mysteriousness to the story but ultimately the story has concluded.
There there came Highlander 2 which has had numerous cuts of the director’s, producer’s, fans, and too many to count. The fundamental plots that are consistent of all the Highlander 2’s is that the Immortals have come from a very distant past (with space ships) and/or alien planet and that being sent to our time as Immortals is more or less a capital punishment by that society. There is also a very large demeaning artificial shield that has taken place of the ozone layer and has brought mankind to a stand still. So, more immortals are pumped in to kill the old Conner MacLeod, he grows young again by a giant explosion of fossil fuel, and the film can’t decide if it’s weak plot point should be wrapped up at the end or should they destroy the ozone layer shield? So it does both and two separate fight scenes are mashed together for the ending.
There is also the third movie. This one, depending on your region, is called “Highlander 3: The Sorcerer” which makes some sense because the Japanese master of sword and martial arts also holds some power of illusion and is obtained by the main antagonist of the film. Then there is “Highlander: The Final Dimension” which makes absolutely no sense until I suspended by disbelief and thought that maybe the title is trying to instill in me that each Highlander film is in it’s own universe and this is a tale for this one. This would make everything fine and dandy. It worked for Final Fantasy. Why not this series?
The filmmakers of the franchise try WAY too hard to make all of the events in the films to some how fit in a deformed continuity. Even if they wanted to make each film separate in terms of story and time line, there is too much effort put in to tie one film to everything else. The explanation is quickly shot down. Also, the third Highlander movie also serves to occur at the same time as the Highlander television series.
Speaking of the television series, this iteration of the franchise is my favorite. If you put aside your brain and suspend all past logic of the franchise, it’s the most well rounded of the projects, aside from the first movie. It really gives some insight into the life of an Immortal and provides some great period pieces with some great choreographed sword fights. The series passes the torch from Conner MacLeod of the movies, to another MacLeod known as “Duncan.” It also introduces a secret society known as “The Watchers” who only observe to record, but not interfere and adds a new element to the saga. The show actually grabs my attention and I want to be immersed in this world that has been created and presented to it’s intended audience. It captures something that the film franchise could not have and that is to grow and build upon it’s basic principals without rewriting or breaking them. It sets itself apart from the movies and is itself, clearly, it’s own “dimension” of sorts.
Then the fourth Highlander movie was released. It attempts to bring the film and television franchised together for a smash hit of swords and intense action. The movie focuses on a being known as Jacob Kell, an immortal that has far surpassed all others in terms of power and focus. He is able to use magic, stop sword attacks with his mind, create disturbing illusions and imagery out of thin air, levitate, and anything else that can come to mind. He does not follow the sacred rules of Holy ground and fighting one on one as he commands a gang of powerful immortals to do his bidding. When one MacLeod isn’t enough, Conner and Duncan team up to take on this massive foe of immense power.
Sounds exciting doesn’t it? That was just the trailer. The studio actually wrote and filmed separate scenes of action and story just for the trailer that was never meant to be used in the actual film product. We don’t even get to see why the MacLeods are jumping out of a portal. What we get instead, is weak motivation for an anti-social immortal who is only marginally powerful in skill because Christopher Lambert (Conner MacLeod) is practically blind in real life and because power levels of the immortals can be measured by how many heads have been taken. So Duncan MacLeod taking the head of Conner (262 + 174) is great against Kell’s 661 right? If the Watchers counted by heads, then that would mean Duncan would have 175 after Conner. This one of many problems that plague the film, including the theatrical release differing from the DVD edition which includes cut scenes that attempt to make sense of the mess, only adds more confusion as they are put in out of order or repeats previous scenes for missing action between.
I have yet to see the recent movie “The Source” which I have not heard any good news on and I have not see “The Raven” which is a spin off of the original TV series. The franchise is definitely plagued with nearly every problem that could occur in a film/television series. However, I can’t help but feel excited about another movie/show that is being in production. With the newest movie “Highlander:The Reckoning” being a remake, I think it would be great to see a re imagining from a fresh set of hands and minds. This could possibly be something that the franchise really needed and could be redesigned with “series” in mind. Until then, I will stick with the television show and get my fixes from there.
There should have been only one!
